First Year College Experience Analysis

I have written more in the past year in this course than I probably wrote throughout high school career. This class made me notice that prewriting really does make a difference in the end result as well as having a peer critique your paper. Instead of writing a quick paper and just handing it in, I was actually forced to take the time out to write a rough draft, read my own work out loud, and revise my work. It helped me make my writing more organized and have a better flow throughout my paper In the future, I will continue to use this method as well as visit the many resource we have on campus that can give feedback what can make my paper better or just checking for grammar errors, spell check, and sentence fragments.

Throughout this course, I was able to assess and evaluate my weaknesses and strengths in writing. This class has truly brought out my ability to write, a skill I did not believe I had. I now know what it takes to become a college-level writer. Also, at the beginning of the course I did not particularly enjoy writing. Now, however, I have a greater respect for

At the start of this course, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had a goal for myself to improve and learn skills that would make writing less daunting for me. I have learned so many things about my writing that I didn’t think much about before. Another goal I had was to break the cookie-cutter mold that was set upon me throughout high school. During the process of revision, I discovered many things about myself as a writer and techniques that have been effective for me in the writing process.

Going back to reading the first thought piece I wrote during this course made me realize how much I have improved as a writer. I now understand the nature of writing, and my own experiences with writing. Writing the Rhetorical Analysis helped me in improving my writing based on my previous writing experiences. I now also know what questions to ask when entering a new rhetorical situation, in order to deal with the situation in the right way. The List of 10 made this easier for me, the first thing I do now before entering a new rhetorical situation is ask myself the ten questions I wrote for The List of 10. This course also made me more of a reflective writer. I am now a more self-aware, thoughtful, and mindful

Before this course, my writing exceeded above an average level, but now my writing has developed a sophisticated technique. This course pushed me to include higher comprehensive words into every piece I wrote. Continuously, I would be searching the internet for synonyms of verbs, adjectives, and nouns I wanted to include in my writings. This technique forced a maturity to emerge into my writing. As a writer, my options and understanding of diverse types of writing has improved immensely. This course allowed me to discover what forms of writing I write best, and what difficulty each type brings. My writing is strong with formal pieces, like the Prairie Meadows Scholarship Essay; pieces where I am allowed to use figurative language and make

This course was comprised of many learning activities; each was designed to help me achieve the course learning outcomes. I have taken two college English classes in the past; however, it has been several years since my last college class. I have some experience in writing and this class definitely helped me get back into writing. I often have trouble brainstorming and capturing the subject I need to write about. This class definitely helped me overcome the challenges I faced in writing and being able to effectively express my ideas in a clear and concise manner. Not to mention, it definitely helped build my writing foundation through a step by step approach to each assignment. Therefore, this class bolstered my writing and communication skills.

From day one I knew I would face some challenges with this class just bases off of past experiences with English classes overall. Not being a native speaker and having dyslexia have been two big hurdles but I can say this class has made me over all a more knowledgeable writer. Each assignment given was something different and something interesting. The one that left the biggest impact on me was the Sister Flowers story by Maya Angelou. I’ve always been a fan of her work and the fact that I got to read something by her in my English class was amazing. Most of the classes I’ve attended have been very euro centric barely deviating from that path but here there was plenty of variety from the racial backgrounds of the authors to the topics themselves. My strengths as a writer have always been in the passion I can channel into my writing. That skill really came to birth as a way to balance out my lack of proper grammar with sheer emotional impact. An example of this I believe was in my essay entitled Glossy “I felt the rage tinged with fear claw at my stomach and wrap around my neck constricting my breathing.” Although my English may not be the best I’ve found ways to convey certain emotions. Although I have some strengths naturally I have weaknesses as well.

I wanted to take this class because I really want to further my knowledge on writing and to help me to prepare for what my college papers are like so that I don’t go to college not knowing how to write correctly. I also wanted to take this class because writing will always be a part of my life, not only in college but, most likely in any job that I have when I'm older, it will also help me now in high school for other classes.

I learned a lot about writing and reading from this course, writing became more easy, even my fear of writing essays has been diminished. I learned to be a critical reader to write better. I started to read more and look at different topic, although not much as I wish, but still it enhanced my writing. I now take notes more often than before. I no longer judge a writing by my emotions instead by what it presents of ideas and facts, I keep in my mind that it just reflects the author’s ideas and opinions not necessary the truth, and that my reflection and response of a writing may be the same or differ from others. Using a double journal became the better tool to capture all my thoughts with the ideas of

Being in Professor Chambers’ class has definitely taught me a lot. Coming into this class, I was more than sure I knew everything I needed to know about writing; plus I had always deemed myself as a wonderful writer. Her lessons challenged me to think outside of the box. The most helpful lessons for me would be the correct usage of commas and semicolons and to make scratch outlines before jumping into writing my papers. Also the helpful websites such as Grammarly.com and Paperrater.com also helped me during this unit and I will continue to use them in units to come. There is a lot more to writing than just throwing a couple sentences together, and being in this class taught me that.

During this semester, I have learned a great deal about my own writing, and writing in general. One of the main takeaways from this course for me was how to break down the intricate process of writing papers. In addition, I developed viable skills regarding going into more in-depth detail during each step of the writing process. I enjoyed having the freedom to write about a topic that I was able to choose. This allowed me to research and write about something that actually interested me immensely. Having to work with one topic for the entire semester taught me how to find reliable resources and how to pick out the essential research from each article.

Over the course of the last three years I have had an incredible experience taking part in the First Year Experience program and I have intent to return as a mentor during my senior year. When I entered Texas Tech as a freshman I though this program may help me adjust during my first semester then I would just take the benefits of what I learned and continue on with college career. Little did I know that this freshman introduction class would continue to have an impact on my life. Most of these impacts have actually come from my time in as a Learning Community group mentor in the program. When I became a mentor after my freshman year I hoped that I would be able to teach the freshman students in my class all about Tech and help them in whatever way they

From taking this course I have been able to improve many of my weaknesses, but there are still some that I need to work on. Overall I am becoming better at not procrastinating as much as I used to. This class has helped me to learn to take the little steps along the way because then there will not be as much work to do towards the end. This has also made me realize that the final product of my writing will turn out better because it will have had more time to develop, which means that there would have been more opportunities to proofread. I think by learning many styles of writing, such as paraphrasing, summarizing, analyzing, and researching; it has enabled me to be able to write more broadly. By knowing how to correctly use all of these kinds of writing styles, it will help me in the future for other classes because I will have the knowledge that I need to write these types of papers. I still procrastinate sometimes, but not as much as I used to. I will be able to improve on this as time goes along because I will become more motivated by seeing the end result, which usually would be better grades.

The first year of college comes with many changes and challenges. These changes can include the food in the cafeteria, study habits, time management skills, and much more. Every student has to find their own way to handle the first year and determine what works best for them. For many the most essential change is living away from home. Campus life provides opportunities to become a part of a unique, diversified community. With these opportunities come challenges, such as having a roommate, being away from one’s parents, and determining self-limits.

It is my belief that through this class and the tools provided, that my growth as a writer has grown through leaps and bounds I would never have assumed possible. It is not so much the skill I refer to, although I would think skill has gone up in some levels as well, but more so the appreciation for the craft of writing itself. Intially, at the start of this class my sole goal was to further my understanding and appreciation of the writer's and books that I so love to read. Through further evaluation within the first week, a few other goals came to mind, of which were, making writing a habit, finishing what I start, stop second guess my writing skills and making effective use of detail and description. Through the use of the many articles, various reading materials, whether poems or short stories, and especially through the workshop, I feel I was able to really push myself to accomplishing these goals. I have thus far learned how important it is not to be skilled at writing per say, but to have the will to write, that poetry is as much about it's sound as it is about it's subject, just how important character development is, how the narration and point of view of a story is essential to the way the story is told, and just how much of a difference peer's critiques can make to your writing.